Hello, reader…
It’s hard to believe that this was our last gathering for 2022!
Here are a few wonderful selections to add to your holiday reading pile…
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
A historical fiction novel centered around the beginnings of the Oxford English Dictionary. It tells the story of a precocious young girl who grows up to become a significant contributor to the OED. In secret, she also spends her life squirreling away discarded words – words precious to women’s experiences (as well as other marginalized groups) and assembles her own reference tome.
Zoe commented that it was well written and highly recommended.
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
This dark fantasy novel tells the tale of earthbound aliens who look like humans but eat books, not food, for sustenance. An unfortunate condition exists among a portion of the alien population that necessitates a few to feed on minds instead of books…as is the case with the main protagonist’s son. Her search for a cure for her son is the main plot of the novel, with many interesting subplots woven in.
Zoe thought it was an interesting read. She noted that the author’s book diet was easy to discern – classics, fairytales, a sapphic vampire novel published prior to Stoker’s Dracula – which inspired more good reads for Zoe’s TBR pile.
The First New Testament by Jason D. BeDuhn
An English translation of a reconstructed text assembled from excerpts that heresiologists included in their works against heretics and their writings.
One such heretic, Marcion, essentially put together the first version of the New Testament, which appears to have included Paul’s pastoral letters and a version of proto-Luke.
Stella commented that it is a fascinating history for folks nerdy about religious studies…though other readers might find it “super dry”.
The Wise Men of Schilda
Pieced together by its reader, Serena, from across the internet, the premise of this story focuses on men of a town who were renowned for being wise.
Kings and rulers from around the world would hire them for their wisdom and advice. Unfortunately, they allowed their town to fail since they were not home. Their wives threatened them if they did not return. They returned but kept getting offered jobs. They decided that to stop being bothered, they should act foolishly.
Smaller stories of the odd things the town folk did are also included.
*An English language edition of a title by the same name, authored by Otfried Preussler, is available from the Internet Archive here. An Internet Archive account is needed for access; this title is available to borrow by the hour and renewable every hour pending availability.
Going on a Dig by Velma Ford Morrison
Juvenile non-fiction that presents an overview of archeology. FireWoman enjoyed the way this topic was presented to its readers.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
A mystery that has a lot of church history and some philosophy. Josiane noted that it was complicated in detail but beautifully written in many parts. Mieke agreed that it’s a great read.
The Hunter by John R. Erickson and The Cow-tail Switch and other West African Stories by Harold Courlander
The Hunter is a western set in Texas whose author also wrote the popular Hank the Cowdog series.
FireWoman read both and plans to keep them for her collection
Exit by Belinda Bauer
A darkly humorous crime novel about a pair of “exiteers” who assist people who want to die.
The older one, Felix, and a new young woman went to a house to carry out their duty, which involves sitting with the person who is ill and wishes to end it all. Unfortunately, on this occasion, they got the wrong person. The story follows from there.
Mieke found this book to be somewhat amusing and a light read in spite of the subject.
A Nice Cup of Tea and Sit down by Stuart Payne
Mieke really recommends this for a relaxed read. It’s mostly about the many, many biscuits that go with a cup of tea…it’s quite amusing!
Rules for Visiting by Jessica Francis Kane
Veyot prefaced this with a lovely idea to choose books off the endcap where staff members pick novels with similar covers. On a particular day, a staff member chose books with plants on the covers.
In Rules for Visiting, a landscaper tells about her work, sort of like a memoir but a novel, and then she goes to visit some old friends and tells about that, too. Veyot found it to be a nice, peaceful read.
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld and The Music of Chance by Paul Auster
Kal recommends the Auster novel, about a guy who is lost, figuratively and literally. He spends his days driving across America, his money running low. He meets a promising young poker player who is about to go into the game of a lifetime. The player needs financial backing so they form a partnership…then the book focuses on the game and the rather unique way that debts accrued during the game are paid off.
Kal thought the book was like an American Kafka…everything feels off, but people just carry on like things are normal.
Nature Doctors: Pioneers in Naturopathic Medicine by Friedhelm Kirchfeld
A book that Scout credits with return to SL, Nature Doctors is a textbook for her studies on natural medicine, nutrition and herbalism.
It’s about the dawn of hydrotherapy in 1800s Germany and all the various competitive nature-based hydrotherapists, sun bathers and nudist philosophers in medicine.
A short list of these books may be found here.
Our next gathering will be on Sunday, January 8th at 1pm SLT. ‘Til then, happy holidays and take good care.
The Reading Room 